Your Event Career

What Extravagant Clients Look for in a Luxury Wedding and Event Planner

Check out part 1 of our Client Series: What Trendy Clients Look for in a Wedding Planner and Decorator

As every event and wedding planner knows, anxious brides and stressed out hosts can be demanding. This is especially true if they’re putting large sums of money on the line. Extravagant clients who are willing to pay for precisely what they want can be exciting to work with because they’re often more concerned about quality than cost. Bigger budgets open up a world of new planning options for you!

Luxury clients can also be very demanding, however, and they will hold you to a high standard. Their expectations aren’t just lofty when it comes to the thread count of the silk tablecloth, though… they’ll also have high expectations of you!

Here is a list of what luxury clients will look for in an event and wedding planner. Are you ready for the challenge?

1. An impressive portfolio

Especially when prices are high, portfolios are an expectation rather than an option.

Extravagant clients want to see proof of your ability to meet their standards in terms of quality, style, and decadence. Planners who can’t provide a thorough professional portfolio won’t even be considered, particularly if that client can find someone else who has gorgeous samples of their past work prepared.

2. Quality training

Event and wedding planning is the kind of industry in which you can work your way up the professional ladder through practical experience. Luxury clients, however, are expecting the best of the best.

They’ll want you to have hands-on training and a certificate from a reputable program. Be prepared to answer questions about where you completed your training and how you’ve applied it to your practical experiences in the professional industry.

3. Great reviews

Wealthy clients know how to network. Many of them do it in their professional and social lives on a daily basis. Their first stop after discovering your brand will be to get information about your work from your past clients. They’ll ask:

• How were you to work with as a person?
• Did you conduct yourself professionally?
• What did the previous client think of your prices?
• How was the length of your process overall?
• How satisfied were they with your final product?

Build a good rapport with each client you work with and maintain that between contracts. Past clients can help get you new ones!

4. An accommodating schedule

Extravagant clients often have their own demanding schedules, so they’ll expect you to work around their needs. They are, after all, the ones paying you!

You’ll need to be willing to have them contact you during non-business hours, meet with you on short notice, and reschedule or move meetings if something comes up on their end. Be ready to accommodate quickly so they feel like your priority.

5. Good prices

Luxury clients know they have the money to pay for your services, and they know that you’re aware of that too. It’s not often that someone extravagant will try to “rip you off” when it comes to payments.

These clients also, however, know the value of the services they want. They’re experienced in having people see the size of their wallet and try to overcharge them. They’ll expect you to have well priced services that are genuinely worth their price tag, even if they’re expensive.

6. Great packages

Extravagant clients are probably accustomed to shopping around. If you don’t have the service or combination they’re looking for, they’ll find someone who does. Rather than losing wealthy clients to someone whose packages they like better, develop a customizable package option. Let your clients have exactly the services they want and be prepared to price it so that everyone is happy.

7. Attention to detail

Luxury clients want your most diligent attention to go into every detail of their event. If they’re going to pay luxury prices, they’ll expect that high-end quality to show in every aspect of the experience. Customization is often popular with clients who prefer decadence. If you cut corners and skip the fine details, you’ll discover how quickly word spreads through wealthy communities who are accustomed to frequent hosting.

8. Style in every sense

Clients usually know what style of event or wedding they’d like, but demanding clients want you to be able to take it to the next level. There shouldn’t just be a hint of a 1930s theme during the charity luncheon; it should be thoroughly and accurately ‘30s down to the finest vintage details.

A wealthy father hiring you to plan his daughter’s wedding will expect you to coordinate entertainment, décor, and catering that genuinely represent her. They’ll want your ideas to be fresh, fashionable without being too trendy, and timeless enough to make future generations gasp at the pictures.

9. A luxury brand

Communicating your brand to your target market is essential. Unless extravagant clients can see that you’re able to offer them the best, they probably won’t consider you. If luxury clients are the people you’d most like to work with, ensure that you build a luxury brand.

This means considering what your website, promotional materials, and portfolio say about your services and style. Including pictures of the time you organized your best friend’s adorably “barnyard chic” bridal shower might not attract wealthy clients looking for high-end extravagance. Create a specifically luxury experience for your wealthy clients and market your other skills on separate pages where clients who want something a little less decadent can find them.

Don’t stress

Working with extravagant clients might sound demanding, and it can certainly be a challenge.

Don’t be scared of someone who knows what they want! Take working with them as an opportunity to learn new things and diversify your client base.

Would you like to learn more about working with luxury event and wedding clients? Check out the Luxury Event and Wedding Planning Specialization from QC and see if it’s right for you!

Next Article